Isaac pointed to the propellant history.
“Every time pressure falls outside the tighter control window, attitude correction gets less efficient.”
“The patch reduces mechanical stress.”
“But now each orbital maneuver burns more propellant.”
“How much?”
“Give me three hours.”
It took two.
Nine to eleven days gained on valve life.
Approximately thirteen to sixteen days lost from usable maneuvering reserve under the projected correction profile.
Net benefit nearly zero.
Adrian stared at the output.
“They know.”
Isaac looked at him.
“What?”
“Nexora.”
“They have this model.”
“They have to.”
Isaac said nothing.
Adrian continued.
“They proposed it because it buys enough calendar time to say remediation worked.”
Eleanor heard.
“Careful.”
She said.
“Intent is not a technical variable.”
Adrian nodded.
But nobody forgot the thought.
The following morning, Cameron Ashford arrived.
No convoy.
Rental sedan.
He walked into the garage at 9:41.
Isaac was standing beside the homemade rig.
For six years, he had imagined seeing Cameron again.
In some versions, Isaac shouted.
In others, Cameron apologized.
Sometimes Isaac imagined not recognizing him.
Reality was quieter.
Cameron looked older.
Gray at the temples.
Still polished.
Still careful.
“Isaac.”
“Cameron.”
“I heard you were consulting.”
“You heard quickly.”
“I’m advising the agency.”
“I know.”
Cameron glanced at the rig.
“What is that?”
“Something you should’ve built in 2017.”
The sentence landed.
Cameron inhaled.
“I did not come to revisit old arguments.”
“Then you drove a long way for nothing.”
“I came because the current situation is sensitive.”
“And?”
“And there are concerns about methodology.”
Isaac almost laughed.
“Still?”
“Your model remains outside the original validated architecture.”
“The satellite is validating it every ninety-three minutes.”
Cameron’s jaw tightened.
“Data correlation does not automatically establish causation.”
“No.”
“That’s why we’re testing.”
Cameron looked toward Eleanor’s secure workstation.
“You are using proprietary Nexora design information.”
“NASA gave me authorized data.”
“Some of that data originates from Nexora intellectual property.”
“That sounds like a conversation for lawyers.”
“It is.”
Isaac looked at him for a long moment.
Then said:
“You read it.”
Cameron’s expression did not change.
“What?”
“My report.”
“You read the full version.”
“I reviewed several drafts.”
“The one with the coupled-mode appendix.”
Silence.
Isaac stepped closer.
“Four times.”
Now Cameron reacted.
Not much.
Enough.
“How do you know that?”
Isaac understood immediately.
He had not told Cameron about the metadata.
“I didn’t.”
He said.
“Until now.”
Cameron’s face hardened.
Isaac felt no triumph.
Only exhaustion.
Cameron looked away.
“You had an unvalidated concern.”
“I had a warning.”
“We had a program to deliver.”
“So you fired the warning.”
Cameron lowered his voice.
“You think decisions happen in a vacuum?”
“There were hundreds of jobs.”
“Customer penalties.”
“Congressional milestones.”
“Launch windows.”
“Do you think I wanted to ignore risk?”